


Tumbling Your Way Into My Heart

by jujukittychick



Series: Merry Trope-mas [15]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Clint is a mess, Deaf Clint Barton, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Non-superhero AU, Pre-Slash, Rare Pairings, Tony is confused and intrigued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28085865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujukittychick/pseuds/jujukittychick
Summary: Tony Stark knew what he wanted and was willing to pay for it. So when he decided to get a tattoo, he did his research, asked around, found the best of the best.  What he wasn’t expecting was a cute deaf klutz with a caffeine addiction worse than his own.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Tony Stark
Series: Merry Trope-mas [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055879
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96
Collections: 1 Million Words' Swap of Joy





	Tumbling Your Way Into My Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sharpiesgal (TigerLily)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/gifts).



> For 1_million_words unofficial Swap of Joy, Merry Trope-mas Day #14: Tattoo Shop AU
> 
> Somebody asked for Tony/Clint, who I haven’t written before, so here’s hoping it turns out alright. Non-superhero AU, SHIELD is a government agency contracting with Stark Enterprises. Tony has the same basic kind of canon backstory, but he was rescued before making the armor and received surgery that took care of the shrapnel in his chest without the arc reactor.
> 
> I feel bad because I really didn't get as much done with this as I was planning but I kinda felt like shit all day, so I might come back to add more to this at some point

Tony Stark was a man who knew what he wanted and had no problems doing what needed to be done to go after it. He expanded his father’s company so that Stark was now a household name around the world. He had more money than he knew what to do with - “richer than God” had been thrown around in his presence before. He had a couple very loyal friends and an awesome staff that made sure his company kept running smoothly.

What he didn’t have was a tattoo...or a dog, but pets make messes and require attention and he’s killed multiple cacti over the years that he’d forgotten about. So yeah, no live pets, he sticks to his robots. But, a tattoo was doable. And after the incident, something he had been wanting more and more. He just had to find the perfect person to do it.

After months of research and talking to people and random recommendations, Tony finally decided on a little hole in the wall shop in a not horrible part of the city called Shot In The Dark, which honestly sounded kind of like a horrible name for a tattoo shop, but whatever, the owner, Clint Barton, was supposed to work magic with needle and ink. So, he’d called and made an appointment with a woman named Natasha that made his SHIELD contact, Phil, sound downright chatty. Though, come to think of it, Phil was one of the ones who had recommended the place.

The day of his appointment, he made sure to wear comfortable clothes, had multiple versions of images he was considering in a folder, ready to go, and left in time to get to the shop early. Parking outside the shop, he tilted his head as he looked at the shop sign, the “o” was a bullseye and the “d” looked to be a bow. Interesting.

Stepping inside, he looked around the entrance, paying no mind to the door chime or the random flashing lights he’d thought he’d seen, probably a reflection off a passing car. The shop was clean, definitely a good sign, multiple framed prints of different styles of artwork hung on the walls with a combination of chairs and couches scattered around the room circling coffee tables with multiple folders on top, tattoo samples he was assuming.

Frowning as nobody came out to greet him after standing around for a couple minutes, Tony pulled out his phone, double checking the time. “Hello? You know this isn’t exactly a great impression for a potential customer.” Hearing a shuffling noise from a room towards the back corner, Tony made his way through the building, getting a glimpse at the individual tattooist’s rooms, until he found what must be a break room. All he saw at first was an, honestly, amazing ass encased in faded denim as its owner was bent over searching through a cabinet. Knocking on the open door, he called out, “Hello? Customer here. Maybe you can save your treasure hunt ‘til later?”

As the man continued to ignore him, Tony huffed and reached out, tapping the guy’s back with his folder. What happened next, Tony really wished he had instant replay for.

The man spun around with a yell, dropping whatever he had grabbed out of the cabinet, tripped backwards over his feet, fell into a somersault to land in a crouch as one hand seemed to reach for a weapon that wasn’t there.

Tony blinked. What. The. Actual. Fuck. “Dude, like, seriously, what the fuck?”

“What? Oh, oh shit, sorry, hold on, hold on…”

Tony winced as the guy yelled his question, then he saw him fiddling with his ears and things started making a little more sense.

“Oh man, I am so sorry, I forgot I had turned my aids down earlier, no wonder it’s been so quiet in here. Were you waiting long? Are you Tony? I’m Clint.” Clint stood up and looked down at the canister he had dropped with a distraught look on his face, coffee grounds spilled across the tile floor. “Oh, coffee, no.”

“You are kind of a disaster, aren’t you?” Tony just stared wide eyed at the man before him. The man was taller than him by several inches, with dark blonde hair and stunning blue eyes, his purple t-shirt pulling tight across a toned chest. He also had a Hello Kitty bandaid on his forehead.

“Man, I am so sorry, I’d say I’m not usually like this, but…” Clint winced and shrugged. “Did you want to reschedule with someone else maybe?”

Tony honestly thought about it for a long moment before shaking his head. “No, I was told you’re the best...by several people...and the best is what I want.”

“Alright, alright, cool.”

The smile Clint turned on him was dazzling and Tony couldn’t help returning it. The man may be a walking disaster but he was also kind of adorably hot. 

~~

After Clint had cleaned up the spilled coffee grounds and locked the front door so they wouldn’t be disturbed, he had Tony sit on the medical looking chair and started going over the printouts Tony had brought.

“Yeah, I could totally do something with this. Where exactly are you wanting it and how big?”

Tony hesitated, fingers twisting the hem of his t-shirt, “Just a warning, it’s not pretty.” Taking a deep breath, he tugged his shirt off, tilting his head back to stare at the paneled ceiling above for a moment as he heard Clint hiss out a breath. Oh, he knew for a guy in his forties who wasn’t obsessive about diet and exercise he was in good shape, defined arms from all the work he did on his robots and machines, the outline of a sixpack even if he was still a little soft in the middle. However, he knew what had gotten the reaction from the blonde - the mass of twisted scar tissue front and center covering a good portion of his chest. He’d heard all kinds of responses since the incident, everything from disgust to pity to awe, leave it to a klutzy deaf tattoo artist to surprise him.

“Huh, I think these are actually worse than Coulson’s and he was run through by an actual spear. Shrapnel from an explosion?”

“What...huh...You know Phil Coulson? And yeah, actually. How…?”

“Oh, Coulson didn’t tell you? Nat and I used to work for him until a bad op put me out of commission. Had some kind of sonic thing go off right next to my head. Killed my hearing and fucked up my balance, but at least it didn’t melt my brain or anything. Nat took early retirement to take care of me since we’re the closest thing to family we have.”

Tony just stared at the blonde in shock, as much for the overflow of personal information as his complete disregard for his scars.

Clint’s head tilted back and forth a couple times, one hand hovering over Tony’s chest as he sketched out designs in the air. “So did you want to work around the scars or cover them up?”

Tony blinked and blinked again. Clint apparently really couldn’t care less. Huh. Okay then.

~~

They’d finally figured out a design and placement, Clint explaining that it would take several trips to finish, and be costly, which Tony had just rolled his eyes at. Clint explained the process, how they’d go about doing things, and what Tony needed to do if he needed a break or if he started having issues while Clint was working.

Laying back in the chair as Clint carefully shaved Tony’s chest where the design was going to go, Tony’s mind started wandering. “So what was with the whole circus routine back in the breakroom earlier?”

“Can’t believe one of them told you about that. They usually wait until I’m dating someone.”

Tony chuckled and then realized that the blonde was focused on his work and wasn’t joking with him. Head popping up off the chair, he looked down at Clint. “Wait, you were really in the circus?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Clint laughed, embarrassed, and shrugged. “Yeah, my brother and I actually did run away and join the circus when we were kids; stayed until I was in my teens. You are in the presence of the Amazing Hawkeye.”

Tony had no clue what to say to that, “You are...not what I expected.”

~~

Clint had been working on Tony for at least an hour, when Tony finally remembered to ask, “Oh yeah, what’s with the name of the shop.”

Clint sat up, stretching slightly as he refreshed the ink and laughed, “Yeah, so Nat and I were kinda drunk and trying to figure out a name for the shop and one of us made a comment and it stuck. The Hawkeye thing? I was a trick shooter in the circus, mainly bow and arrow, but I can use pretty much any kind of distance weapon. Wound up working as a sniper for Phil. He’s been bitching at me for getting injured and leaving him without a decent marksman ever since my accident.” Clint bent back over Tony’s chest, tattoo gun hovering just above his skin as he glanced up at him with a grin, “Nice thing about the hearing aids, I just turn them off when he really starts going.”

~~

Three hours after Tony had walked in the shop, he wasn’t sure if his chest was vibrating, hurting, or numb, but Clint had made good progress on the design, the vaguely steampunk/robotic clockwork heart and fanciful scrolls around it that twined around the scars it didn’t cover was outlined and some of the color had been added.

The two of them had talked the entire time, briefly about the incident that had injured Tony, about Clint’s own accident, their friends and the surprising amount of them they actually had in common. After Clint got him patched up and gave him his care instructions until he could come back in for the next session, Tony realized he wasn’t quite ready to part from the fascinating klutzy marksman circus performer tattooist. 

Reaching a pause in their conversation, where Tony should really tell Clint goodbye, instead he took a deep breath, “Hey, if you don’t have another appointment, would you maybe like to get some coffee? I kind of owe someone for making him dump his out on the floor.”

Clint ducked his chin, rubbing the back of his head as pink tipped his ears. Looking up at Tony bashfully, he nodded, “Yeah...yeah, I think I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Like my work? Curious about what other crazy ideas I've had? Check out my [plot bunny page](https://jujubunnies.freeforums.net/). You can comment on existing ideas or leave your own requests.
> 
> I'm also back on [LiveJournal](https://jujukittychick.livejournal.com/) now, so you can send me PMs or see the random things I'm working on as I use it to post ideas and stuff


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